September 2026
Where does learning happen?
For Margie Vandeven and Roger Still, the answer stretches far beyond the classroom.
In this episode of The World We Want, host Gerry Ellis joins Margie and Roger for a conversation about the connections between education, nature, community, food, health, childhood, and the places that give us room to pay attention.
Margie Vandeven is education branch chief for the Missouri Department of Conservation, following a long career in education that included serving as Missouri's commissioner of education. Roger Still is a conservationist whose work explores the connections between nature, food, community, and human health through a One Health approach.
Their conversation moves from childhood memories of staring at the night sky and sitting on a grandparents' porch to the experiences being created for young people today. Along the way, they explore stillness and boredom, access to nature, environmental learning, community connection, and what it might mean to create more welcoming spaces where people can learn from the world around them.
And an unexpected question emerges:
Do we need to build more porches?
Resources for Educators
"One Health in Action: Connecting Nature, Community, and Well-Being" (eeWEBINAR)
One Health
Missouri Department of Conservation Nature and Health Resources
About the Guest Speakers: Margie Vandeven and Roger Still
Margie Vandeven, Ph.D., is the education branch chief for the Missouri Department of Conservation, where she applies her prior leadership experience to conservation education initiatives. A lifelong educator dedicated to improving lives through education, she has shaped educational policy and practice at the classroom, school, state, and national levels throughout her career.
In her current role, Margie helps Missourians connect with nature, believing that conservation education can inspire stewardship, enhance well-being and create meaningful opportunities for learning across all ages. Margie began her career as a Missouri teacher and went on to teach and serve as an administrator in Maryland before returning to her home state where she served as Missouri’s Commissioner of Education for over eight years.
Roger Still, co-founder and executive director of One Health Us, is currently capping his career working to integrate nature, food, and human health into a tangible approach that can be scaled from his community to others. Still has a wealth of knowledge and experience spanning over twenty-five years from his time as a senior executive at Nature Conservancy and National Audubon Society, in addition to being a consultant to philanthropic, non-profit, and for-profit organizations. He leads partnership development for the Boone County One Health pilot in Columbia, Missouri and in a growing number of communities in Missouri. He learned to love nature, agriculture, and communities of people on his grandparent’s farm in the rural Missouri Ozarks where he was born.
Transcript coming soon
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About The World We Want: The NAAEE Podcast
Imagine a world where communities thrive, curiosity sparks change, and hope fuels action. Welcome to The World We Want, the NAAEE podcast that's bringing a better future to life, one inspiring story at a time.
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Join us as we chat with people across continents and cultures who care about education and the environment. Season two of The World We Want: The NAAEE Podcast is produced by NAAEE, in partnership with GLOBIO, and funded by ee360+.
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